3 December, 2014

Christmas Gift Ideas: Wojo Wallets and Enfusia Bath Products

What’s that? I’m writing a product review that isn’t about food? In fact, I’m writing two of them, just in time to tickle on your Christmas gift-buying toes. Obligatory disclaimer: I received all of these items for free as samples from the companies. It’s up to you to decide if that makes me biased or not.

The first item, the Wojo Wallet, does qualify as blog-related even without being edible, and that’s because it’s intended for travel.

It’s a much sleeker option for stowing your absolutely necessary wallet items than whatever clunkier one you use for everyday use.

Yep, that’s my clunkier wallet. I love it and its many pockets, but as I just tested out on my Thanksgiving trip to LA and Universal Studios, the Wojo Wallet takes up a lot less space and declutters the travel experience. It’s light, easily slips into—but not out of—any pocket, and fits up to 6 cards inside the sleeve plus cash under the outer band. I had five cards + cash in mine; those passengers were tight and snuggly—no fear here that the cards would fall out! That can be hard to accomplish without making the outer band so strong that taking cards out is a pain, but I had no problem removing them.

I can attest that the Wojo Wallet is great for saving space during travel, but it’s also water resistant… and it floats!

That doesn’t mean you want to take cash in it rafting down a river, but your credit cards should do just fine and water won’t damage the wallet’s silicone and neoprene material at all. Maybe I’ll finally give kayaking a try…

The Wojo Wallet is $13 and can be ordered at http://www.wojowallet.com. It’s coming along with me to Barcelona in a couple of weeks—and yes, I’ll have a series of posts upcoming from that vacation!

Item #2 has nothing to do with my normal blogging topics, but it has plenty to do with my normal weekly activities, being as I take a bath around once a week. It’s a luxury I enjoy, even when the luxury is crammed into my tiny bathtub. Item #2 is also a misnomer because it actually covers a whole sampler pack of items sent to me by Enfusia, a bath and beauty company specializing in products that are animal, chemical, and gluten free—that’s a lot of possible ingredients to avoid!

Now, I love Lush, but I don’t love Lush’s prices. Because it’s the best company around offering all-natural bath bombs, scrubs, shampoos, melts, etc., I use them. So I was excited to try out Enfusia as it seems similar to Lush in its practices and ingredients, though it takes a less whimsical and more sensible route to marketing its products. Well, unless you count the cupcake bath bomb.

Those come in lemon, strawberry shortcake, white chocolate raspberry, and chocolate, which is the one I received. I haven’t yet tried it or the trio of bath bombs pictured above, but I have used the bath bomb on the right in that photo. It’s an Arabian sandalwood, 4 oz., mini-bomb that retails at $4. After using it, I found myself thinking full-size bombs may be too much! Lush’s bombs are typically 6.5 oz., Enfusia’s are 9.5 oz., and both retail for roughly $7. Let me tell you, a mini-bomb does the job well enough without all those extra ounces. The sandalwood smell was soft and inviting, but what I found most appealing about that bath was the foam that kept fizzing long after the bath bomb had dissolved.

The Bee Friendly chapsticks are outstanding.

They market for $3 each and are a typical chapstick size. Why am I so enthused? Because they have enough density and smoothness to remind me of traditional chapsticks made with petroleum jelly. You know the ones; they have heft and don’t disappear immediately after putting them on. The spearmint would be my choice of the two I’ve tried, but both will leave your lips with that delicious tingle. They contain no petroleum jelly or beeswax—the ingredients are only plant-based waxes and oils. Hooray!

The rose ylang ylang body lotion with avocado oil and shea butter is also quite impressive.

Despite being rather thick, it soaks into my skin fast and leaves it hydrated for several hours. Straight from the bottle, the scent reminds me of a neutral Jergens lotion, but a pleasing, lightly floral scent remains after application. The pictured 2 oz. travel size is $3, and the 8.5 oz. full size is $10.

The final Enfusia product I tried is the white fig body and room mist.

Again, that is the 2 oz. travel size, and it costs $3. The full size is 8.5 oz. and $8.50. This is the only product I’m not sure I’d recommend. I like the fragrance, which reminds me a lot of the sandalwood bath bomb and would work great as a unisex scent. But it doesn’t last long spritzed on my body, and I doubt it would last that long in a room at all. But I am definitely intrigued by the Butterfly Kisses roll-on perfumes at the site, and the pleasing smell of the body mist gives me hope that those would come across as woodsy as well and maybe last longer through the direct application.

Enfusia has made a believer of me, and I’m thrilled to have another natural bath product company that I love. There are a lot of fantastic sales on the site right now, including some half-off discounts on the bath bombs! You can shop at Enfusia right here: http://enfusia.com. I’m eyeing the Chakra Coffee body scrub and the frankincense and myrrh bath oil. For the record, this blogger accepts Christmas gifts *hint hint*.

Both the Wojo Wallet and Enfusia’s products were reviewed during the last week of November 2014.